


All the Way Home I'll Be Warm

by pterawaters



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Accidental Relationship, Alcohol, Holidays, Ice Skating, Morning After, Multi, Sexuality Crisis, Thanksgiving, slight season 4 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:55:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27725815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pterawaters/pseuds/pterawaters
Summary: It’s been a long few months since Nancy saw Jonathan, and she’s eagerly awaiting his visit over the long Thanksgiving weekend. When Steve stops by and mentions he’s going to be alone for most of the weekend, Nancy can’t help but invite him to lunch, just to catch up. Lunch turns into a day full of fun that none of them expected.
Relationships: Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers/Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler
Comments: 10
Kudos: 76
Collections: Seasonal Date Challenge





	All the Way Home I'll Be Warm

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for the Seasonal Date challenge over on the [Stoncy discord](https://discord.gg/vG9Nvzdhkf). Big thanks to [wolfish_willow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfish_willow/pseuds/wolfish_willow) for beta reading!

**November, 1986**

When the doorbell rang, Nancy was the closest to the front door. She sat down the book she was reading for her literature class and went to open it. Standing on the other side was Steve Harrington, wearing a dark gray pea coat, a red scarf wrapped around his neck and shoved into the collar of his coat. “Steve!”

“Hey, Nancy,” he said, wincing a little bit. Pointing past her, into the house, “I’m just here to pick up your brother, actually. I’m his ride to Dustin’s today.”

“Oh, I see.” Nancy was unable to stop herself from smiling at this new version of Steve, the one who drove high school sophomores around, even though he’d graduated almost a year and a half earlier. Turning into the house, Nancy called, “Mike! Your ride’s here!”

As they waited for Mike, Steve asked, “So, you’re back from Purdue for the weekend?” 

“Yeah.”

“How’s that going?”

Thinking about the past month and a half, her first few in college, Nancy smiled. She shrugged and told him, “It’s really good, actually. I miss Jonathan like crazy, of course, but it’s good.”

Gesturing vaguely, Steve said, “Am I remembering right? Did Dustin tell me Jonathan and his family were coming here for Thanksgiving?”

“Yeah, they are.” Nancy felt her chest tighten a little in excitement. “I think they’re crazy to come back here from _California_ in _November_ , but I’m excited to see them. Jonathan.”

“So you two are still…?”

This was always a little awkward, but Nancy was determined to make it less so. “Yeah, we are. The plan is to end up in the same place eventually. But he was so lucky to get in at USC with a full scholarship. I couldn’t ask him to pass up an opportunity like that.”

“No, yeah,” Steve said with a resigned sort of nod. “I mean, sounds like you guys have a nice future lined up.”

Mike came thundering down the stairs, entirely too big for the house now, even though he was probably _still_ growing. “Hey, Steve! Let’s go.”

“Yeah,” Steve said, taking half a step down from the porch. He smiled at Nancy and said, “It was nice to see you.”

Nancy wondered if she was always going to feel this same vague sort of warmth about Steve. Like, she hated the fact he wasn't really in her life anymore. She smiled back at him and said, “Yeah, you too. Have a nice Thanksgiving with your family.”

“Oh,” he said, his face falling a little. “Yeah, sure I--”

“What’s wrong?” Nancy asked, ignoring the way her brother was making impatient faces from Steve’s car. 

Licking his lips, Steve looked down and then away as he said, “Yeah, my parents went to Cabo for the week.”

“You’re spending Thanksgiving _alone_?” 

“No!” he insisted, like he couldn’t stand the thought of Nancy thinking he didn’t have anyone to spend the week with.

“Oh, right. Robin,” Nancy said. She couldn’t believe she’d forgotten about Steve’s new girlfriend. “How’s she doing?”

“Visiting her grandmother in Cincinnati,” Seth said, holding up a finger when Nancy opened her mouth. “I’m spending tomorrow with Dustin’s family, so no need to worry about me. I’ll be up to my ears in Turkey and cranberry sauce.”

Nancy gave him a relieved smile, before another thought occurred to her. “What about the rest of the weekend? Maybe do you want to hang out for a while on Friday? Catch up?”

“I don’t… I mean, you and Jonathan are gonna want to…” 

Rolling her eyes, Nancy said, “We can control ourselves long enough to have lunch. Come on, what do you say?”

“Steve!” Cried Mike from beside the car. “Come on!”

Waving Mike off, Steve nodded and said, “Yeah. That sounds good, Nancy. Lunch. I’ll give you a call, we can talk details.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Steve gave a confused little nod and said, “Yeah. Yeah, me too.” He gave her a little goodbye wave and headed back to his car, saying, “Hold your horses, you little shit! You know, it’s not that far to _walk_ to Dustin’s.”

“Jesus, I’m sorry, okay?” 

And then they got in the car, still bickering, and left.

Nancy found herself looking forward to lunch on Friday.

Even though Nancy had to get out of bed at stupid o’clock in the morning, shake Mike awake until he was conscious enough to get in the car, and then drive an hour and a half to the airport in Indianapolis, she was happy to do it. Jonathan was coming home. This was only the second time he’d been back to Indiana since he moved, and Nancy couldn’t wait to see him. She’d visited him in California _twice_ since her eighteenth birthday, which had been almost a year ago. Four times over the past thirteen months was _not_ enough time. 

Maybe she _had_ been a little hasty to give some of that time away to Steve, but she hated the fact that he was going to be alone over the weekend. Thanksgiving was a time to be with far too many family members and friends, not alone.

These thoughts occupied Nancy’s mind as she drove. 

Every mile closer to the airport, Nancy’s excitement grew. It bubbled up in her chest and made her throat feel so thick she almost thought she would drown. They parked at the airport and went to the gate, Mike checking all the arrival boards on the way. 

A bunch of people got off the red eye from L.A., but none of them were Jonathan, until the one who was. Nancy waved and called out to him, “Jonathan!” He looked tired, and his hair was longer than the last time she saw him, but when he saw her, his face cracked open in a wide grin. He hurried to get to her and almost tripped over some lady’s bag, but then he was there, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her.

Nancy laughed a little bit, in relief at finally seeing him again, but also at herself, because she just _couldn’t_ stop kissing him. Jonathan laughed too, and then they were standing there, foreheads pressed together, giggling like idiots. 

Nancy could hardly believe how _fiercely_ she loved him, even after all this time apart.

“Come on!” Mike said with an exasperated sigh. “Let’s go! You know Mom isn’t going to wait for us to get back. The bird gets served–”

“When it gets served,” Nancy finished for him. Taking Jonathan’s hand in hers, she said, “Let’s walk, but tell me _everything_ that happened since I talked to you last.”

“I turned in my essay and we went to the airport,” he said, squeezing Nancy’s hand.

“Did you sleep at all on the plane?”

“A little.”

“He started snoring,” Will said from in front of them, shooting a teasing glance back at Jonathan.

Joyce shook her head with a smile, before saying, “Thank you for picking us up, Nancy. It was so kind of you to come all this way.”

Well, Nancy wasn’t going to wait one second longer to see Jonathan than she had to, but instead of saying all that, she gave Joyce a heartfelt, “You’re welcome.”

They got in the car, and then out on the highway, heading out of Indianapolis. It didn’t take long before Mike, Will, and Joyce all fell asleep in the backseat. Jonathan put a cassette from his bag into the stereo, saying, “I think you’re gonna like this one.”

Nancy gave a fond laugh, glad Jonathan hadn’t changed much at all. As he got the stereo going, she remembered that she was going to tell him about the invitation she’d extended to Steve. “So, Thanksgiving at my parents’ house today.”

“Mm-hm,” Jonathan said, the first few chords of the music sounding through the speakers.

Reaching over, Nancy turned down the volume -- just _a bit_ \-- before saying, “I’m having lunch with Steve tomorrow. You don’t have to come, but--”

“No, I’ll go,” Jonathan assured her, sneaking a glance back at his mom and brother before putting his hand on the back of Nancy’s neck. He stroked his thumb through her hair and Nancy sighed _really_ wishing they weren’t staying with her parents for the weekend. “Anything in particular you wanted to talk to him about?”

Nancy shook her head. “No. He just… He stopped by yesterday to drive Mike to D&D, and he mentioned that his parents _and_ Robin are out of town. He’s all by himself.”

“So it’s a pity lunch,” Jonathan said, chuckling when Nancy gave him a scandalized look. “No, it’s fine. It’ll be nice to catch up a little. _You’re_ really the only person from here that I still talk to.”

Nancy didn’t know how to feel about the fact that Jonathan apparently had a better time making friends in California than he had here. It made her feel a little like he was leaving her behind, living on the coast with cool new friends. It was only a matter of time before he found a cool new girlfriend too, wasn’t it?

“Anyway, lunch tomorrow with Steve, then whatever you want to do until you have to leave on Sunday.”

Jonathan gently squeezed the back of Nancy’s neck, telling her, “I don’t care what we do. I just want to spend as much time with you as I can.”

Feeling helplessly in love, Nancy grinned and nodded.

She wanted this weekend to last forever.

When the alarm on his watch went off, Jonathan silenced it before rolling out of Nancy’s bed as quietly as possible. The room was still dark, but he managed to find his pajama pants and sweatshirt on the floor. He pulled them on, combed down his hair with his fingers and left her room. 

It was still very early, and he was still on California time, where it was the middle of the night. After tip-toeing down the stairs and out to the den, Jonathan collapsed onto the couch where he was _supposed_ to be spending the night, and fell directly back to sleep.

When he woke up again, it was slowly, to the sound of voices elsewhere in the house. It sounded like his mom, and Karen probably. Chatting over coffee was the most likely scenario. He hoped they weren’t doing something like planning his and Nancy’s wedding. Yes, he wanted to stay with Nancy for as long as she would have him, but they were also just 19. The thought of standing in front of all of Nancy’s family and promising to take care of her forever, when he didn’t even know what his career was going to look like after college -- or if he was even going to _finish_ college -- seemed like a recipe for disaster.

Jonathan wasn’t even sure he and Nancy could _live_ together well. They weren’t going to have a chance to do that until after college, at the _earliest_. Some days he thought about selling his car for scrap and buying a bus ticket to Lafayette. If he could get a job and earn enough for an apartment, maybe by next fall, Nancy could move in with him. It was a nice fantasy sometimes, but then he thought about five years down the road. Ten. 

He’d be stuck in some low-paying job, unless he learned some sort of trade, and even that sounded _soul-crushing_. Plus, Nancy deserved to be with someone better, someone with a college degree, at least. And Jonathan had earned his spot at USC. Giving it up now, even for the love of his life, would be a mistake. He knew it.

And then there was lunch with Steve coming up in a few hours. Jonathan had no idea how that was going to go. The last few months before Jonathan had moved had been weird. He and Steve had kind of become friends? Sort of? They talked on the phone sometimes, mostly about horror movies and how unrealistic they were. But Jonathan hadn’t really told this to Nancy. He wasn’t sure why. Seeing him in person was going to be weird, but hopefully good. Yeah, hopefully good.

After a cup of coffee and a stack of waffles courtesy of Karen Wheeler, Nancy dragged Jonathan out of the house to go shopping for something or other on sale. Jonathan wasn’t sure Nancy even _needed_ to buy things on sale. It seemed like her dad gave her whatever money she asked for. He was sure there were _some_ limits, but they weren’t anything like the limits Jonathan had on his spending. He didn’t say any of this to Nancy, just followed her around the department store, enjoying being in her presence. 

“Oh, shit,” Nancy said, looking at her watch as they left the department store. “We’re supposed to meet Steve in like ten minutes.”

Jonathan didn’t mention the fact that you couldn’t get _anywhere_ in L.A. in ten minutes time, and that Hawkins seemed so much smaller than before. He didn’t mention it the same way he didn’t mention the fact that a lot of his new California friends weren’t exactly what Hawkins would consider “normal,” either. Some of them were from California, but more than a few were from places in the middle of the country, places where they didn’t fit in, just like he hadn’t in Indiana.

And if Jonathan didn’t really want to think about _why_ he had so much in common with his new friends, well, that was a mental door that he’d been really happy just keeping closed forever. After all, he had Nancy, and he loved her. He was _in love_ with her. All the stuff behind that door didn’t really matter, except for the fact that it made it easier for him to relate to his new friends.

They made it to the diner five minutes early.

As they sat down, Nancy asked, “Are you okay? You’re a little quiet today.”

“Jet lag,” he told her, reaching over and putting his hand on Nancy’s knee. “I’m really happy to be here with you.”

She smiled and kissed him and Jonathan hated the fact that college was four years long.

The front door of the diner opened, the bell chiming, and Steve walked in. His hair was a little shorter than the last time Jonathan had seen him, but it looked good. When he saw them, the smile he gave was wide and incredibly disarming. “Hey, guys!”

He dropped down into the booth across from them. “I feel like I _should_ still be full after all that food Mrs. Henderson made me eat yesterday, but actually I’m _starving_.” He picked up one of the menus and opened it. “How are you guys doing? How’s college?”

Oh. Steve was nervous. He was hiding it pretty well, but the rapid pace of his words gave him away. Jonathan never thought he’d see the day when _Steve Harrington_ was nervous because of him. Sure, it could have been because of Nancy, but something about her face when he shared a look with her told him that wasn’t the case. 

“Good,” Jonathan told him with what he hoped was a friendly smile. “I’m trying to keep busy. Take advantage of the opportunity, you know?”

“Mmm, wouldn’t know about that,” Steve said, diving into his menu, giving Jonathan the distinct impression that he’d said something wrong.

Shit.

Well, this was going fantastically.

“Well, I cried at least three times my first day of class,” Nancy said with a little self-deprecating chuckle. “Even though I went and found all of my classes ahead of time, one of them _moved_ on me. I got there late and had to sit in the back with some kid who smelled so much like _weed_ I almost threw up.”

“Perdue has stoners?” Steve asked, like it was completely out of the question.

“I don’t know about Perdue,” Jonathan said, taking the menu in front of him and opening it up, “but USC has a whole club full of them.”

“For real?” Nancy asked, sounding almost as shocked as Steve. 

Shrugging, Jonathan said, “They call themselves a hacky-sack team, but everyone knows why they really get together. My roommate invited me to join.”

“Did you?”

Jonathan reminded himself that if he gave Nancy an aneurism and killed her, that would do a pretty bang-up job of preventing their wedding. “No,” he assured her. “I’ve got too much federal grant money and my scholarship that I can’t risk.”

Nancy’s sigh of relief was so loud that when Jonathan met Steve’s eyes, they both laughed. It felt like the ice had broken, and Steve launched into a story about the ways he and Robin goofed off at work that had both Nancy and Jonathan laughing so hard, it made it difficult to order their food.

Steve finished off his last few fries as Nancy finished her story about the ghost supposedly haunting one of the Perdue libraries. It hadn’t escaped him how close she and Jonathan were sitting to each other, like they were two halves of a whole that had been apart too long. He’d never fit with someone like that. His friendship with Robin was close, he thought, but it wasn’t… He loved Robin to death, and she was his _best_ friend, but he missed having a girlfriend. He missed having someone to kiss. 

Looking out the window, Jonathan said, “I know it’s only been a year since I left, but somehow I didn’t expect this place to look _exactly_ the same as it did before I left.”

“A couple things have changed,” Steve told him. “New ice skating rink opened last week. Down on Orchard Street, where the old barn used to be.”

“Oh, that sounds fun!” Nancy said, turning to Jonathan and grasping his arm. “I’ve never been ice skating. You have to take me!”

Jonathan looked at her like she was crazy, before saying, “I’ve only ever been once, when I was in grade school. All I remember is falling down a lot.”

Nancy pouted, and Steve had never been able to resist that expression of hers. Bracing himself for the inevitable brush off, he said, “I could teach you guys.”

Excitement making her eyes wide and bright, Nancy said, “Yeah? You know how to ice skate?” 

Steve nodded. “Played peewee hockey for a few years.”

She looked over at Jonathan expectantly. “Please?”

Apparently Jonathan was just as helpless when it came to resisting Nancy’s faces. He shrugged and said, “Why not? You guys want to go tomorrow sometime?”

“What about right now?” Nancy asked, turning her attention back to Steve, she asked, “Unless you’ve got something you’re doing now?”

He shook his head. “I’m actually working tomorrow afternoon, so today’s good.”

Nancy gave a little squeal of excitement, and Steve shared a knowing look with Jonathan. Yep, they were both caught in her orbit, unable -- or maybe _unwilling_ \-- to break free. Steve knew part of his problem when it came to finding a new girlfriend was the fact that he still wasn’t over his last one. With Robin as his wing woman, he’d gone out on a few dates over the past year, but none of them had… None of them compared favorably to Nancy.

Like, yeah, Nancy broke his heart, but she wasn’t happy with him, and now she was with Jonathan. How could he fault her for that, really? Maybe he shouldn’t have offered to go with them to the skating rink. Being near her again was just going to end up hurting, wasn’t it?

Except, when they were at the skating rink, Steve skating circles around the two of them, it didn’t hurt as much as he thought it would. They were good together. 

“Ahh!” Nancy cried out as her skates slipped out from under her. Jonathan kept her up just long enough to soften her fall before Steve had to grab onto him with both hands to keep him upright.

Cheeks and nose pink with the cold, Jonathan gave a relieved chuckle. “Thanks.”

“You good?” Steve asked, making sure Jonathan nodded before he reached down for Nancy. “Okay, nice and easy now. Just shift your weight from one skate to the other.” Holding onto her hands, Steve skated backward, pulling Nancy with him, Jonathan skating along carefully beside her.

“Oh, hey!” Nancy said, smiling up at Steve. “I think I got it!”

Grinning back, Steve let go of Nancy and took a quick look over his shoulder to make sure he wasn’t going to run into anyone. When he looked at her again, Nancy had her arms spread for balance, but she was propelling herself. “Hey! You’re doing it!”

He turned, facing forward and getting to the side as he slowed down, so Nancy and Jonathan could catch up with him. Since he’d graduated, he’d gotten out of the habit of doing anything _physical_ with friends. He went jogging three or four times a week (since you never knew when you’d have to run for your life), and sometimes he could convince Robin to go for a bike ride, but it wasn’t like this. This was _fun_.

Despite the way he could feel the rented skates forming a blister on his heel, he didn’t want this to end. He should ease himself away, get used to being alone again. He was going to be alone until Monday, when Robin was coming back. He’d better get used to it.

“You guys good if I take a quick lap?” he asked, not really waiting for an answer before putting on some speed and pulling ahead. It had been a few years since he last skated, probably that winter of sophomore year, when he’d gone with Tommy and some of their old hockey team friends. Steve wondered what had happened to those guys. Most of them had probably left Hawkins.

Steve wished he could leave.

He didn’t end up going as fast as he could have, but it was fun dodging all the other skaters, weaving through them and catching back up with Nancy and Jonathan a few minutes later. “How are we doing?”

Nancy turned to smile at him and caught her skate wrong, almost falling on her face. Between Jonathan’s strong grip on her left and Steve sliding to her right, they lifted her and got her skates back under her.

“Okay,” Nancy said, breathing a little hard. “I think I’m maybe done with this for now.”

“Yeah, it’s getting cold,” Jonathan said, like he was giving Nancy an excuse she might be looking for.

Steve couldn’t help but tease, just a little. “You get a little thin-skinned, living in California this last year, Byers?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” he said, not even bothering to argue the point. “The summers are kind of miserable, though. The only thing that helps is being close to the water.”

“Sure, just rub in the fact that you get to live near the ocean.”

Jonathan laughed, and Steve tugged Nancy a bit, and she tugged Jonathan and then they were stepping off the rink. Jonathan pointed at the refreshment stand, saying, “I might need some coffee to warm up again.”

“Oh, you won’t sleep,” Nancy chided. “Maybe hot chocolate instead?”

“Ooh, with marshmallows!” Steve sat down on the bench to start unlacing his skates, realizing he probably shouldn’t have said that. He didn’t want them to think he was inviting himself on another one of their dates. To give them an out, he said, “I hope they have to-go cups.”

Sitting down across from Steve, Nancy asked, “You have to go?”

Confused, Steve frowned at her for a second before looking over at Jonathan. He didn’t seem pissed that she’d asked or anything. In fact, he looked a little bit like he was interested in the supposed appointment that Steve had.

With his empty house.

“I mean, yeah. I should,” he told them, focusing on undoing a knot in the laces on his left skate. “Let you guys do whatever it was you were gonna do.”

Jonathan looked at Nancy, and she looked back at him for a long second. Steve thought if he found out they could communicate telepathically with each other, he wouldn’t be surprised. Nancy took a sharp breath before saying, “My parents’ house is packed to the gills with people. I know I’m supposed to be spending time with my family, but…”

“They _are_ a bit much,” Jonathan agreed. “Plus, all of our brothers’ friends are hanging out there today. It’s probably a mad house.”

“I suppose, if you want,” Steve offered, sure he was going to regret this, “we could hang out at my house. Movies? Pizza?”

They did one of their telepathic conversations before Nancy said, “Sure. That sounds great, actually.”

“What kind of movies are we talking about?” Jonathan put his boots back on before giving Steve a knowing, almost mischievous look.

“Oh, there’s this new one we got in at the store just last week,” Steve said. “I don’t have to return it until tomorrow. I think you guys would like it.”

“No,” Nancy said when Steve held up the box for _Re-Animator_. “No way! You guys know I hate those movies!”

Steve looked over at Jonathan and they _both_ started laughing. She narrowed her eyes at them.

“Since when are you two in cahoots?”

“Oh, come on, Nance,” Steve said, taking his other hand out from behind his back, showing her the other movie he had ready. “We’re just having a tiny bit of fun at your expense. No cahoots here.”

“Not a single one,” Jonathan agreed, which made Steve laugh. 

He smothered it because of the glare Nancy gave him, but she couldn’t stay mad at them for such a little reason. Not when she was here to spend time with Jonathan and keep Steve company so he wouldn’t be alone at the holidays. She softened her frown into a smile a few seconds later. Pointing to _The Jewel of the Nile_ , she said, “I’ve been wanting to see that one.”

“We have a winner!” Steve declared, holding it over his head in a ridiculous victory pose. 

Shaking her head, Nancy sat down on the love seat, pulling Jonathan to sit next to her. After he started the movie, Steve sat on the end of the long couch closest to her, passing over the big bowl of microwave popcorn he’d made. “I’ve seen this one, like, five times already. We’ve been showing it at the store.” He pointed the remote at the VCR and it started playing.

There were previews at first, so Nancy asked Steve, “How is it, working at the video store?”

“It’s alright, I guess,” he said, shrugging. “It’s fun when Robin and I get to work at the same time, but otherwise, I don’t know. It’s kind of the same thing day after day.”

“Oh,” she said, wondering if his boredom with his job meant he was ready to start thinking about his future, maybe start applying to schools again. She hated the thought of him stuck in this town forever, all because of her. 

It hadn’t escaped her notice that after the break-up, Steve had lost his academic focus. He’d barely shown up at school anymore after that, and from what she heard from a mutual acquaintance, he’d barely graduated. But he _had_ graduated, and she was sure he could get in _somewhere_ , even if it was just night classes at a community college. She knew his future wasn’t her concern anymore, but she felt like if he applied himself a little more and got out of Hawkins, maybe she wouldn’t feel so guilty about how she’d broken things off.

The stupid thing was that she hadn’t even fallen out of love with him. She’d just been mad, and sad about Barb, and she _did_ have feelings for Jonathan. _That_ was obvious, in retrospect. But she wished she would have ended it better, in a way that hadn’t led to… everything.

Except now, sitting in this familiar living room, with Jonathan leaning up against her, and Steve whispering about the previews on her other side, Nancy realized that maybe things _had_ worked out, alright anyway. 

The pizza showed up just as _The Jewel of the Nile_ was ending, and Jonathan realized that he might have dozed off a time or two, because his memories of the movie didn’t make sense at all. 

“What do you guys want to do now?” Steve asked, setting the pizzas out on the coffee table, a stack of paper plates and napkins with them. “Another movie?”

Shaking his head, Jonathan said, “I’ll just fall asleep again.”

“Aw, but you’re so cute when you fall asleep,” Nancy told him, to which Jonathan rolled his eyes, but Steve laughed.

“Maybe we should do something a little more exciting,” Steve said, opening one of the pizza boxes and pulling out a slice, which he put on a plate before handing it to Nancy. It struck Jonathan that Steve still knew which of the two pizzas Nancy would want, without having to ask. He continued, saying, “Robin taught me this card game, which is also sort of a drinking game, but we can leave that part out if you guys want.”

Looking at Nancy, Jonathan shrugged and said, “We don’t have to drive anywhere anytime soon. Might be fun.”

Nancy looked at Steve and said, “I don’t know. Last time we got drunk together it didn’t work out so well.”

“To be fair,” Steve replied, “you were drunk. I wasn’t. If you give me a head start, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Nancy laughed. “What do you have to drink, anyway? Beer?”

Jonathan made a face of disgust. He couldn’t stand beer. It reminded him too much of Lonnie.

“No, beer’s too difficult to hide from the folks,” Steve said. “I think I’ve got some vodka stashed, or maybe it’s bourbon. Lemme go check.” He stood up and left the living room, heading toward the stairs and taking them two at a time.

While he was gone, Jonathan asked Nancy, “You’re sure? We can go back to your house. We don’t _have_ to keep him company if you’re uncomfortable.”

“I’m not,” Nancy insisted, turning to face Jonathan and giving him a little smile, like she thought he was being overprotective. “Are you?”

“No, actually,” Jonathan said, kissing Nancy’s shoulder. “This is more fun than I thought it would be.”

“Good.”

Jonathan watched Steve come back down the stairs, noticing how long his legs were, and how fitted his sweater-- Nope, those were the thoughts that Jonathan was _not_ entertaining at this time. Probably not ever.

Steve had a bottle in each hand. “I had both. Lemme see if I can find something to mix these with. Some pop or juice or something.”

Jonathan thought of Murray, mixing his vodka with water, and how disgusting it had tasted. He leaned forward and opened the bottle of bourbon, wondering if it would taste any better. He sniffed it, but wasn’t impressed. “Yeah, something to mix this with would be good.”

“Have you been to any parties at USC?” Nancy asked, snuggling closer and wrapping her hands around his arm.

“Not really. I would’ve told you if I had.” Jonathan capped the bourbon and set it back on the table. “I mean, I’ve been hanging out with people. Friends.”

Nancy smiled. “I want to meet your new friends. I want to know everything about them.”

Jonathan wasn’t so sure she would, but he nodded anyway. Maybe if he eased her into the idea of the _kind_ of people he was friends with, he’d know whether it was okay to introduce her to them or not. Nancy was a good person, and she had a fantastic understanding of right and wrong, but she’d also been living in Indiana her whole life. People like Jonathan’s friends fled places like Indiana for good reason. What if he could ease her into it, start describing one of his friends, and then add the queer part after she already liked them? That could work.

“I’ve mostly been hanging out with Andrew,” Jonathan told her. “I told you about him, remember? He doesn’t live in the dorms either, so we kind of bonded over that. Hanging out in the library between class, that sort of thing.”

“Oh, yeah. I remember you talking about him. He isn’t one of your hacky-sack friends, is he?” Nancy asked, bordering on judgemental.

Jonathan raised an eyebrow at her for a second before answering, “No, but would it bother you if he was?”

“I just don’t want you getting in trouble, is all,” Nancy said. 

“But underage drinking is just fine?” 

Nancy laughed before telling him, “Alcohol is metabolized within hours. Some of those other things stay in your system for days, or weeks even!”

Jonathan assured her, “I’m fine. I’m not going to get in trouble just because you’re not there to keep an eye on me.”

“I know,” she said, but she was pouting as she held his hand and squeezed it. “I just missed you so much.”

“I missed you too,” he insisted, kissing her before hugging her close.

From the entrance of the room, Steve said, “Whoa, bad time? I can come back…”

Jonathan let go and Nancy said, “No, it’s fine. Let’s play this game Robin taught you.”

“Okay,” Steve said with a relieved sort of sigh. He had a jug of orange juice in one hand and a stack of glasses in the other. “Who wants a screwdriver?”

Steve hadn’t been this drunk in a long time, and it felt really nice. He put down the King of Diamonds, pointing to Byers on his left, crowing, “Ha! Now you have to drink!”

“Unless…” Jonathan set down the King of Hearts. “Ha! That’s two drinks to you, Nancy!”

“You don’t _have_ to get me drunk, you know,” Nancy said, taking one sip of her drink, and then finishing it off with the second. “I was gonna sleep with you anyway.”

“I didn’t need to hear about that, thanks, Nance,” Steve said with a roll of his eyes. It had been a long, long dry spell that Steve didn’t want to think about. He finished off his drink as well. When he reached for the vodka, he realized the bottle was empty. “Shit. I guess we’re moving on to bourbon. Or, I am anyway. One of you might want to sober up if you’re driving home before, you know, morning.”

“I don’t want to drive home,” Nancy said, leaning closer to Steve and pouting at him. “Can we crash on your couch or something? Please?”

“I mean, yeah, sure,” Steve told her, pushing at some of the hair that had fallen into her face. “But you have to behave yourselves. No fucking on my parents’ leather couches.”

Nancy groaned with frustration.

Yeah, he understood where she was coming from. It sucked that she and Jonathan couldn’t be together all the time. Feeling very magnanimous, Steve said, “I’m feeling magna- magnit- magoo… I’m feeling very _giving_ right now. Take my bed, have fun. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“No, we couldn’t,” Jonathan chimed in, reaching over and putting his hand on Steve’s arm. “You don’t need to give up your own bed to help your ex-girlfriend get laid. That’s like… That’s a step too far.”

Steve snorted in amusement. “It kind of is, isn’t it?” He laughed again. “But for real, I’m happy for you guys! You got out of this hellhole. I know I haven’t yet. And like everyone my age left for college, and so the only girls left are either too young, too old, or not interested.” Steve groaned. “Maybe I can live vicariously through you guys. I might not be getting laid, but at least you will be.”

“Wait,” Nancy said, giving him a confused frown. “You and Robin aren’t sleeping together? Is she, like, super religious or something?”

Steve had to laugh loudly, and then he had to catch his breath before he could speak. “No, Robin’s _gay_.” Then he realized what he’d done and slapped his hand over his mouth. Moving it just enough to talk, he said, “Oh, shit! I probably shouldn’t have told you that! Pretend you don’t know, okay?”

Still frowning, Nancy asked, “Your girlfriend is gay?”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Steve insisted. 

“But…” Nancy seemed so confused. She looked over to Jonathan, who shrugged. “Mike says you and Robin are always together.”

“You ask your brother about me?” Steve asked. “Aww, that’s so sweet!”

Out of the blue, Jonathan said, “My best friend in California is gay.”

“What?” Nancy cried, turning around to give Jonathan an even more confused look. “Andrew is _gay_? How come you never told me?”

Looking like he felt a little put on the spot, Jonathan squirmed. The poor guy. Steve had to step in for him, telling Nancy, “Probably because he knew you’d react like this. With- with all the _yelling_.”

“I’m _not_ yelling!” Nancy yelled.

“It’s really not a big deal.” Steve reached for the bottle of bourbon, pouring some into Nancy’s glass, and then his own. “Jonathan can be best friends with a gay guy. I can be best friends with a gay girl. It’s not like it’s the 50s anymore, Nance.”

She pouted again for a moment before picking up her glass and taking a sip of the straight bourbon. After wincing, she asked, “How come _I_ don’t have a gay best friend?”

“Barb doesn’t count?” Steve asked.

Nancy punched him in the arm.

“Ow! No, you’re right. I deserved that. Sorry!” Steve took a sip of his bourbon as well. Maybe it would make the ache in his arm fade the same way it had dulled the ache in his heart. “Hey,” he said to Nancy, holding up his drink to her. “I’ll be your straight-ish best friend if you want. That’s gotta count for something, right?”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Jonathan said, putting his hands on the coffee table and leaning closer to Steve. “What the hell do you mean by ‘straight-ish’?”

“Okay, strictest confidence here, alright?” Steve insisted, looking at Jonathan first, then Nancy. Maybe he was too drunk to be a good judge of motive, but whatever. This had been weighing on him for a while, begging to be told. “Over the summer, Robin and I went for a weekend up to Chicago. We had fake IDs and everything. So, we go to this club with a clear objective – get Robin laid.”

Nancy’s jaw dropped open, but Jonathan was leaning forward, like he was already invested in the story. He asked, “It was a gay club?”

Steve nodded. “So Robin’s there, talking with this girl and it’s going well, so I gave them some space. Which was fine, the music was _awesome_ , and I was just kind of chilling and people watching when this guy bought me a drink. And I mean, it seemed rude not to accept it, and I didn’t want Robin to get in trouble for bringing me, and he _was_ really pretty, so…”

Throat really dry, but heart lighter than it had felt in a long time, Steve took a long sip of his drink.

“What happened?” Jonathan asked, his voice kind of whispery, like it wasn’t working right.

Shrugging, Steve admitted, “I made out with him for a while. It was fun. Like, a _lot_ of fun. So, yeah, straight-ish. Maybe more than -ish. Who knows?” He lifted his drink in Nancy’s direction, “You’ve got a deviant friend like the rest of us, Nance. Hooray!” Steve took a few long, burning swallows of his drink, maybe kind of hoping he wouldn’t remember admitting any of this when he woke up in the morning.

Nancy put her cards face down on the table and crossed her arms. “I don’t believe you.”

Steve choked on some of the bourbon, spluttering a bit, having to wipe his mouth on his sleeve. “Okay, and no offense here, but why should I give a fuck whether you believe me? It happened.”

“Says you. Prove it.”

“How?” Steve asked her, chuckling and probably having a little more fun with this “argument” than he should have been, but he was drunk, and they were both leaving town in a couple days, so it wasn’t like any of this _mattered_. “It’s not like I got the guy’s number. We can’t call him up and get, like, a testimonial or anything.”

Nancy’s eyes slid over to where Jonathan was sitting, and suddenly it was like Steve could read her mind. “No. No! Come on, I’m not going to make out with Jonathan just to prove a point.”

“What?” Jonathan looked over at Nancy. “How did—? _What_?”

Ignoring Jonathan’s protests, Steve asked Nancy, “Why would I lie about that? If people around here found out? They’d make my life a living hell.”

Nancy made a thoughtful noise. “I suppose you’re right about that.”

“Besides, I’m not in the habit of kissing people who don’t want me to kiss them. I am a _gentleman_ , thank you very much.”

Mumbling into his drink, Jonathan said something like, “‘M not _entirely_ opposed…”

Gesturing to her boyfriend, Nancy said, “See? Jonathan doesn’t mind!”

Steve laughed. “You can’t be serious!”

“If you’ve done it before, I don’t see what the big deal is.” There was a goddamn twinkle in her eye and a smile on the corner of her lips. She was having _so much_ fun. 

Steve thought it would be hilarious to keep goading her, just to see what she would do. He did not expect Jonathan to say, “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” and reach over the coffee table, pulling Steve into a kiss. 

Steve gasped at the shock of it, breathing in Jonathan’s scent and licking his tongue and _holy hell_ did he desperately need to get laid!

When Jonathan finally let go of him and pulled back, Steve was left there blinking, wondering what had just happened. “I, um… I…” He said, fumbling around for the right words to say and coming up empty. Thinking he needed to be more drunk, so maybe he wouldn’t remember how fantastic that kiss had been, once he woke up in the morning, Steve grabbed his glass and shot the rest of the bourbon back in one big swallow.

Nancy was laughing, and Jonathan looked kind of pleased with himself, and Steve decided he needed to change the topic, like _right then_ before he did or said anything he couldn’t take back.

“So, whose turn was it? Nancy’s?” Steve poured another shot into his glass. God, he couldn’t even _look_ at Jonathan after that. 

Nancy put down an ace and said to Steve, “Read ‘em and weep!”

“I’m gonna be so hungover, oh my god,” he said, taking a sip of his drink. Well, at least he could take the others down with him, as long as he got another eight…

When Nancy woke up, her head was pounding and her tongue felt like a desert. She groaned, rolling over and squinting when sunlight stabbed her eyes. “Oh, fuck. Ow!”

Someone mumbled next to her, and Nancy wondered just how much trouble she was going to be in for having Jonathan in her room. God, it wasn’t like they were kids anymore. They were both adults, and like, _responsible_ and shit. She shouldn’t have to sleep apart from her boyfriend after not seeing him for _months_.

Pouting, Nancy turned and snuggled up against Jonathan’s back. She felt a little sick, but like she mostly had it under control. Wondering what time it was, anyway, Nancy cracked open one of her eyes. 

Wait.

Jonathan didn’t have a mole _there_. 

What the fuck?

Oh, _no_. 

Nancy knew whose mole that was. She knew whose room this was too!

She sat up far too quickly and had to close her eyes until the room stopped spinning. Okay, maybe it was going to keep spinning for a bit. Grimacing, she kept her eyes closed and tried to figure out how much clothing she was wearing.

Nancy’s hand quickly discovered she wasn’t wearing a bra _or_ a shirt! She pulled the sheet up to cover her chest. Opening her eyes, she peeked under the covers and found her fear was true. She was naked. So was Steve. 

What had she _done_ last night? 

Looking past Steve’s shoulder, she realized Jonathan was laying on the other side of the bed, Steve’s arm across his naked chest.

“What the fuck?” Nancy asked, not upset so much as really confused. “What happened last night?”

“It’s too early,” Jonathan mumbled before turning toward Nancy -- and also Steve. Nancy watched as, eyes still closed, Jonathan snuggled closer to Steve and kissed him. Then a crease formed between his eyebrows and he frowned. “Nance?”

“Yeah?” 

Jonathan opened his eyes, blinked, and then widened them before sitting up. “Ah!” he cried, scrunching his eyes closed and pressing a hand to his forehead. “That’s not you! How did we get here?”

“I…” Nancy thought about it, trying to remember what had happened. “We were drinking…”

“Obviously.” Jonathan stuck his tongue out, like he didn’t like having it in his mouth anymore.

“Mmm?” Steve said, starting to stir. 

Meeting Jonathan’s eyes, Nancy told him, “You kissed Steve.”

Jonathan groaned before saying, “I seem to remember that being _your_ idea.”

“What?” Steve asked, blinking and rubbing at one of his eyes before looking up at Nancy, then at Jonathan. “Oh, right. Hi, guys.”

“Do _you_ remember what happened last night?” Nancy asked him, trying her best to keep her voice down, because _ow_.

“Vaguely,” Steve said, sitting up and pushing a hand back through his hair. Looking down, he frowned and said, “We’re naked, aren’t we?”

“As far as I can tell, yes.” Nancy raised an eyebrow at Jonathan. “You too?”

“I’m still wearing my socks,” he said dryly, which made Steve laugh. 

“Oh, I’m hung over, but man, I’m in a good mood, too.” Shaking his head, Steve giggled a little, before looking at Nancy. Something on her face made his happy expression fade. “Sorry. Did I…? I didn’t mean to fuck up things between you two.”

“You haven’t,” Nancy said, looking over at Jonathan. “Right, Jonathan?”

Shrugging, Jonathan sighed. He looked around the room, then back at Nancy. “I don’t think you can consider it cheating when you’re _both_ in the room. Don’t you think?”

That made sense, so Nancy nodded. “Yeah, that sounds right.”

Jonathan looked at Steve again for a second before his eyes went wide and he looked away, his cheeks going bright red. 

“What?” Nancy asked him, reaching over and shaking him gently by his arm. “Did you remember something?”

Still looking away, Jonathan nodded. 

“Sorry,” Steve said. “I _might_ get a little slutty when I’m drunk. What did I do?”

Jonathan shook his head, still not looking at her, and Nancy figured out what he was doing. She told Steve, “Whatever you did, he liked it a lot and doesn’t want to admit it.”

Steve grinned, and Nancy couldn’t help but smile along with him. “Ooh, I wonder what it was. We didn’t fuck, did we?”

Jonathan shook his head, but he shivered too. 

Okay, this was getting out of hand. 

Noticing Steve’s T-shirt on the ground next to the bed, Nancy grabbed it and pulled it on before getting out of bed and going around to Jonathan’s side. “Hey, are you okay?” She sat next to his legs, facing him.

“I love you,” he said, looking at her just for a second, grabbing her hand before looking away again. “I want to stay with you _forever_ , I just…” He sighed and Nancy shared a worried look with Steve. “I tried so hard not to acknowledge it, not to open that door. And then… _this_.”

“This?” Nancy squeezed Jonathan’s hand, not sure if she should feel as scared as she did. “What door?”

“Hey, I won’t tell anyone,” Steve said, carefully placing his hand on Jonathan’s shoulder. “Not even Robin. It can be just a crazy thing that happened. It doesn’t have to _mean_ anything.”

“But it _does_ ,” Jonathan told him. “It means I wasn’t just imagining things when I felt different all this time. It means the fact that all my friends at school are queer says something about _me_. Something I knew was true, but didn’t want to think about. Didn’t want to give a name to.”

Nancy’s stomach dropped. “What does that mean? Do you want to-- to break up? So you can date boys?”

“No!” Jonathan said, shaking his head vehemently and squeezing Nancy’s hand. “No, I don’t want to break up. I’m just… Are you sure you want to stay with me? Now that you know?”

Nancy thought about this. He was still her Jonathan, wasn’t he? “You love me?”

Jonathan nodded.

“And you’re-- you’re _attracted_ to me?” she asked, pretty sure she knew the answer, but not willing to make assumptions for something this important.

“ _Yes_ ,” Jonathan assured her, using his other hand to cup the side of her face. “I want you _all the time_. Please don’t doubt that. I love you so much.” 

Nancy nodded, noticing the way Jonathan’s eyes shimmered a bit, tears not quite falling. She felt tears welling up in her eyes in response. “I love you too. Always.”

“Awww,” Steve said, drawing attention to the fact that he was still there with them, naked under the covers. “You guys are so cute together.”

Jonathan gave a soft huff of breath that was something like a half-hearted chuckle.

“So,” Nancy said, getting cold outside the blankets. She nudged Jonathan over a little and got under the covers next to him. “Everything’s fine. Okay?”

“Okay,” Jonathan agreed. 

“Crisis averted,” Nancy said, like that would make it more true than how delicate everything still felt. She looked at the others and asked, “Now what?”

“Coffee?” Jonathan laid back down on the pillows, covering his eyes with his left hand. Nancy snuggled close to him, putting her arm across his chest and her head on his shoulder. “Or, more sleep. That works, too.”

“I could use more sleep,” Steve said, laying most of the way down, but keeping his head propped up, elbow on the mattress. “But I’ve gotta ask something.”

Nancy sighed. “What?” 

“If I make coffee, what are the chances for a round two? Sober and everything?”

Jonathan craned his neck a bit to meet Nancy’s eye. “He offered to make me coffee.”

Nancy laughed and told Steve, “Be careful. If the coffee’s good, he might just fall in love with you.”

His face going soft, that way Nancy remembered from the year they’d been together, Steve said, “I could think of worse things.”

Jonathan blushed again, and this time when he looked at her, Nancy knew what he wanted. She nodded, helping Jonathan pull Steve close enough to kiss.

When Steve left to make the coffee, Nancy asked Jonathan, “Did we…?”

“What?”

“I think we went on a date with Steve yesterday,” she told him. “Lunch, the ice skating, pizza and movies, ending up in bed together? That sounds a lot like a date to me.”

“Is that… a _bad_ thing?”

Kissing him, Nancy assured Jonathan, “Not if we don’t want it to be.” 

Pensively looking up at the ceiling, eventually he said, “Yesterday _was_ a lot of fun. Did you have fun?”

“I did.”

Jonathan nodded, still looking thoughtful.

Because she had to know, Nancy asked, “Would you want to go on another date with him?”

“Only if you do, too,” he insisted right away. “You’re the one who’s already dated and broken up with him. Don’t do this just for me.”

Thinking about the way Nancy hadn’t really ever fallen out of love with Steve, and about the stupid little jealous feeling she got when she thought Steve was dating Robin (and not _her_ ), she said, “I’m not. I want to be here. With you. With him, too. Are you okay with that?”

Licking his lips before biting the lower one, Jonathan nodded. “Yeah. I think I am.”

Jonathan checked his watch as he left his last final of the semester. It was okay. He had enough time to get to the airport, even with traffic. Beside him, Andrew asked, “Your girlfriend’s plane is landing soon?”

“An hour and a half,” he replied, holding onto the strap of his book bag so he wouldn’t nervously wring his hands together. “She’s, um…” Jonathan wasn’t quite sure how to say this. He decided to just _out_ with it. “She’s bringing our boyfriend with her.”

“Wait, wait. Boyfriend?” Andrew asked with a wide grin. “ _Our_? What? When did this happen?”

“It kind of started over Thanksgiving,” Jonathan admitted, shivering at the parts he could remember of that weekend. “But we’ve been talking on the phone a lot. We decided to make it official a week ago.”

Andrew shook his head. “Man, were you _ever_ going to tell me?”

“I’m telling you _now_ ,” Jonathan pointed out. “Do, um, do you want to meet them? Like, lunch tomorrow before you head up north to your grandma’s?”

“Sure,” Andrew said. “I remember your girl’s name is Nancy. Who’s the boyfriend?”

“His name is Steve.” Pointing at Andrew, Jonathan told him, “You’re not allowed to hit on him.”

“Am I going to _want_ to hit on him?”

“Oh, yeah.”

Andrew laughed, and Jonathan grinned back at him. In less than two hours, he was going to see his partners. It was going to be a great visit, he just knew it. And, if he showed them around enough, maybe they’d want to move out here after graduation. Jonathan could think of worse places to end up, though he figured it didn’t matter too much if they got to be together.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought in the comments below!
> 
> You can find out more about me and my works over [on tumblr](https://pterawaters.tumblr.com/).


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